The library can be accessed whenever the Temple Office is open, but is not always staffed. If you would like to visit when a librarian is available, we are always open when Religious School is in session on Sunday mornings, from 9:45 a.m. until noon and some weekday afternoons.

If you do visit the building when a librarian is not available, self-checkout is available. If you have a smart phone and an account number, you can do this yourself online. Directions for this and a regular paper checkout are available at the librarian’s desk when you visit.

Please contact Librarian Betsy Gephart at library@templecav.org for assistance or to learn about volunteer opportunities.

Join Our Temple Book Club

Join us for our 2017-2018 Temple Book Club when we discuss a title and have a 45-minute "Live Chat" with the author through our video-conference system. Plan to join us on these Tuesdays at 7 p.m. in the Madge Rothschild Resource Center:

Our inaugural Temple Book Club met on May 9, 2017 to discuss Saving Sophie by Ronald Balson, the author of Once We Were Brothers.

Resources are available from the Jewish Book Council, the sponsor of the 45-minute “Live Chat” with the author.

Hanukkah Books For All Eight Nights

With almost 400 Hanukkah titles to choose from in the Rabbi Richard B. Safran library, it might be hard to pick just one – or just one for each night. Here are some suggestions. Just in time for Hanukkah, which begins Tuesday, December 12, we have four new holiday picture books.

· Sammy Spider’s Hanukkah Colors by Sylvia Rouss is Sammy’s latest board book for our very youngest readers. Sammy learns about the holiday and colors at the same time.

· The Missing Letters: A Dreidel Story by Rene Londner is a fun look at the Hebrew letters on the wooden toys. Here the letters come to life, with gimel the target of the others’ jealousy.

· Way Too Many Latkes: A Hanukkah in Chelm by Linda Glaser brings Hanukkah to the infamous citizens of Chelm. The author of the award-winning, Hannah’s Way and On One Foot returns with a humorous take on cooking for the holiday.

· Judah Maccabee Goes to the Doctor by Ann Koffsky is a Hanukkah book that might help with those flu shots! Judah and Hannah have their annual check-ups during Hanukkah, and Judah learns a new way that he can serve as a “shield” for his baby sister.

Along with our four new titles, we have more than 350 books, music CDs and DVDs to help celebrate the holiday! From Hanukkah in America: A History by Dianne Ashton for adults to Shalom Sesame videos for the kids, we have lots to offer. Please take advantage of this free resource for Temple families. Check out our full library catalog.

For each book you read or activity you do on the sheet, you can cross off a square. Do this by telling the librarian – either by e-mail at library@templecav.org or in person - which book you read or which activity you did.

The honor system will be used when filling in the squares, but if you are found to have cheated, you will be disqualified from the program. For each square you cross off, you’ll get a piece of candy. Once you cross off an entire row in any direction, you can add your name to the raffle jar for the gift card drawing. If you complete the entire card, you get an extra entry in the raffle jar! Altogether, there will be a maximum of six raffle entries for each Bingo card – five rows plus one completion bonus. There is no limit on the number of Bingo cards completed per person.

Books read do not need to be the property of the Richard B. Safran Library, but they do need to be of Jewish content. If the book you read is not in our collection and you think it should be, please let us know!

Our drawing will be held on the last day of Religious School on Sunday, May 20. Prizes will be as follows:

The more members we can involve with the library, the more services we will be able to provide! We are particularly looking for people comfortable with computers to help staff the library desk during Resource Center events. In addition, we could use drivers willing to deliver materials to those not able to make it to the campus, readers to review books in our collection, and creative folks to help with library displays. If you are interested in volunteering in our library, please contact Betsy Gephart at library@templecav.org.

In addition, Temple members Irv Adler and Betsy Gephart are working together to establish a local chapter of the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies to serve Northeast Indiana. Activities would include exchanging ideas, working on projects of interest, and connecting to the broader Jewish genealogical community. If you are interested in becoming a member, please contact Irv at irv@adlerfw.com.

Do More From Home

Members of Congregation Achduth Vesholom, the Jewish Federation of Fort Wayne, and Congregation B’nai Jacob may all borrow materials from our collection. Others may obtain borrowing privileges for a small fee. An account number is required to borrow and hold materials online. Contact librarian, Betsy Gephart, at library@templecav.org for this information. Find more information about our lending policy.

From your home computer, smart phone or other device, you can access our full collection through the library catalog.

Once you have an account number, click on the small “person” icon in the upper right hand corner of our catalog to log into your account. From there, you can renew materials and access your account information. While searching the catalog, you can place a hold on something if you’d like to pick it up the next time you’re in the building. You will receive an e-mail when it’s ready for you in the Temple office.

We recently received more than 100 new books in honor of Betty Stein’s 100th Birthday in December 2016. Thanks to all who contributed books! View the full list of titles.

We always welcome donations of new materials to our collection. To this end, an Amazon Wishlist has been created, full of books, videos, music and even games for our resource center. If you would like to donate a specific item to our library, you can order it directly from the list and it will be shipped to the Temple. All items donated may be labeled to acknowledge your donation. If you wish to have a bookplate or other recognition on your item, it is important to include that text as part of a gift card with the item. The Wishlist is updated frequently, and comments are welcome. If you don’t see something on the list that you think should be included, please contact Betsy Gephart at library@templecav.org.

We offer more than books in our Resource Center. We welcome any donations of new or gently used (no scratches!) DVDs, audio books on CD, or music CDs with a Jewish theme. We also welcome all gently used PJ Library materials – books, CDs or DVDs. Gently used Jewish games and current copies of Jewish magazines are also welcome.

Monetary contributions may be made to “CAV- The Temple” and earmarked for the Library Fund or the Himelstein Children's Book Fund. The Library Fund covers general library expenses such as supplies, subscriptions and programs, as well as adult library books. The Himelstein Children's Library Fund specifically funds book purchases for the Children's Library. Our address is 5200 Old Mill Road, Fort Wayne, IN 46807.